One month ago, the College Football world told itself that the 4-team playoff would be filled with ease once again. At the time, the SEC, ACC, Big 10, and Big 12 conferences each presumed to be represented by their champion. Only the Big 12 conference’s presumed representative is the same as prior with the top of the rankings left to chaos. Oklahoma continues to hum past the remainder of the Big 12. The following list withhold the schools who were in the top 6 a month ago and still are today: Alabama. That’s it. The cast of teams surrounding the dominant

Alabama squad has shifted a great deal week by week. However, the phrase of “dominant” cannot be attached to Nick Saban’s team following last weekend’s contest. Upsets shake the world of College Football once again.

Throughout the previous month, the shapings of the playoffs have begun to take form. No team outside of Wisconsin and Central Florida makes out of the regular season unscathed. #1 Alabama fell to #6 Auburn in the Iron Bowl. The same outcome befell #2 Miami as they lost to an unranked Pittsburgh. Just two weeks prior, #9 Washington fell. #1 Georgia steamrolled #10 Auburn and #3 Notre Dame exposed by #7 Miami.  #6 TCU battles and loses to #5 Oklahoma. And lastly, #6 Ohio State received a beating in Iowa City to the unranked Hawkeyes.

Penn State fell off the planet after being ranked second in the nation a month earlier before losses against #6 Ohio State and #24 Michigan State. Upsets have completely ravaged the top 10 of the College Football rankings week after week.

Playoff Ramifications

Despite all of these upsets eliminating teams from playoff contention, eight teams still have a chance at making the playoffs. This amount of teams is the highest by such a large margin in the history of the playoffs. The following teams are currently contending for the top 4 spots: Clemson, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Auburn, Alabama, Miami, Georgia, and Ohio State. Among these, there are no certains. None whatsoever. Here are all the likely possibilities.

If Clemson, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Auburn all win in their respective conference championship games, each of them will compete for the playoffs in no particular order. This particular scenario plays out with Alabama being the first team out of the playoffs. Alabama losing to Auburn head to head and Auburn winning the SEC championship defends this scenario. If Clemson loses, Miami will make the national semifinal game in Clemson’s place. If Wisconsin or Oklahoma lose, however, the outcome may not be so simple. Alabama may take one of those places, so Ohio State or even potentially Georgia could retain the spot. If Auburn loses to Georgia, Georgia simply replaces Auburn in the playoffs. However, of all these contingencies, as a lifelong sports fanatic since birth and self-proclaimed expert since, the following is my prediction for the playoffs.

#1 – Auburn. After beating Georgia and Alabama in three weeks with both teams being ranked one at the time and defeating a #7 Georgia again in the upcoming week in the conference championship, Auburn rises the number one slot in the playoffs.

#2 – Clemson. First, this Saturday, Clemson will defeat Miami for the ACC Championship. Second, I cannot put Clemson at number one in the nation for only two reasons. Syracuse and schedule strength. The lone loss in Clemson’s repertoire is facing Syracuse. A loss against Syracuse is inexcusable. Despite Clemson defeating Auburn in a head to head matchup and Auburn having two losses to Clemson’s one, Auburn has proven in the last three weeks and will continue to prove once again this week that Auburn is the hottest and the best team in the nation.

#3 – Oklahoma. The Sooners hold strong in a rematch against TCU in the Big 12 Championship game and retain their previously given slot from the College Football Playoff Committee. Oklahoma deserves to be in the Playoffs but does not own the resume to be placed higher than here.

#4 – Alabama. The Big 10 will miss out of the playoffs for the first year. A two-loss Ohio State Big 10 champion will not make the playoffs as a two-loss Big 10 champ in Penn State missed out on the playoffs in 2016. Wisconsin has not faced a single worthy opponent all year and Ohio State has faced Oklahoma and Penn State as well as rivalry games against Michigan and Michigan State. The Big 10 will do as the Big 12 has done multiple times and beat itself out of the playoffs. This leaves Alabama to enjoy a rematch of the Iron Bowl against Auburn in the National Semifinals on New Year’s Day.

This Saturday will without doubt deliver with multiple conference championship throughout the day. Oklahoma-TCU at 11:30 CST on FOX. Georgia-Auburn at 3:00 CST on CBS. Clemson-Miami at 7:00 CST on ABC and Wisconsin-Ohio State at the same time on FOX. Each of these games will determine College Football Playoff selections with the official ranking show occuring on Sunday, December 3rd at noon.

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Today at 12:30 p.m. EST (11:30 a.m. CST), the selection committee will reveal the top 16 seeds for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. This will be the first time the selection committee has ever released any rankings before Selection Sunday in March. The seedings will represent where the committee believes teams stack up against one another at this point in the season.

These rankings will not be final, seeing that there is still a whole month of basketball to be played before Selection Sunday on March 12. The reveal is a new attempt to spark debates and stir up conversations between fans and basketball analysts alike.

“We are excited about giving the fans a glimpse to what the men’s basketball committee is thinking at this point of the season and creating a buzz as we look toward Selection Sunday,” NCAA Tournament Chairman Mark Hollis told CBS Sports.

Starting at 11:30, CBS will air a 30-minute program revealing the top 16 seeds and where they are placed, followed by an in-depth analysis of the selection committee’s reasoning. The show will also include a review of the rest of the field of 68 and a glance at potential bubble teams who could find their way into the tournament by season’s end.

The show will feature Hollis, as well as host Greg Gumbel, analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis, and CBS Braketologist Jerry Palm.

Most fans that have watched college basketball for the majority of the season can probably guess who the top 11 or 12 teams will be, but there may be some surprises when the four-seeds are announced. Someone will get snubbed, but that’s the joy of this whole process. It’s only February, and if you’re even being considered for one of the top four seeds, you’re probably in good shape.

Picking the top 16 teams in the country isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially with all of the parity in college basketball this season. Just last Saturday, six of the top nine teams in the AP poll lost, which caused quite a shakeup in the rankings just seven days before the sneak peak.

Here are my projections for who will be the #1 seeds at 11:30 a.m. CST:

EAST REGION: VILLANOVA

23-2 overall, 10-2 Big East

Week 14 rankings – AP: 2 RPI: 2

Jay Wright’s squad is one of the more experienced teams in the league this season, after returning nearly the whole starting lineup from last years National Championship team. With just two loses on the season, both on the road to Big East Conference opponents, it’s not crazy to think that this team could be the number one overall seed come Selection Sunday. The Wildcats are lead by senior Josh Hart, who averages 19.2 points per game (PPG) and 6.6 rebounds per game (RPG), both team highs. The John R. Wooden Award Top-20 finalist, senior Kris Jenkins, and sophomore Jalen Brunson make up one the most dynamic ‘”big threes” in college basketball, and based on what they showed us last March, the Wildcats are poised to make another deep run in the big dance.

SOUTH REGION: KANSAS

21-3 overall, 9-2 Big 12

Week 14 rankings– AP: 3 RPI: 3

Per the usual, the Jayhawks are on top of the Big 12 conference yet again, and their top five players are as good as any five players any other team fields. Led by Wooden Award Top-20 finalist Frank Mason III, Kansas has as much talent as anybody in the college game. Four players – Mason, Josh Jackson, Devonte’ Graham, and Svi Mykhailiuk – average double figures, and all four can get their shots off whenever they please. Bill Self’s guys are 3-2 this season when facing teams in the AP Top-25, including a 79-73 road win at Kentucky’s Rupp Arena during the Big 12-SEC Challenge. Lack of depth could prove to be the downfall of the Jayhawks come tournament time, but in February, Kansas’ starters are doing enough to elicit them getting a #1 seed.

WEST REGION: ARIZONA

22-3 overall, 11-1 PAC-12

Week 14 rankings – AP: 9 RPI: 9

Yes, I know Oregon just blew them out in Eugene. Yes, I know Gonzaga is unbeaten and took them down in December. No, I don’t care. This was probably the hardest region to decide on, but I still think the Wildcats are more prepared for the tournament than are the Ducks and Bulldogs. In the loss to Oregon last week, the Ducks made 65.2% of their field goals and 64% (16-of-25) of their threes. No one beats Oregon in that game. At the moment, Arizona owns a one-game lead over Oregon in the PAC-12 standings, and a slight edge in my February top 16 predictions. However, if Gonzaga runs the table and enters Selection Sunday without a loss, Mark Few’s Bulldogs will likely get the #1 seed. Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen averages 15.6 PPG, and the 7’0 freshman from Finland can score in the paint and from behind the arc. He is the x-factor for Sean Miller’s first place Wildcats, and if sophomore Allonzo Trier starts getting back into a rhythm after returning from suspension, the Wildcats will be a team no one wants to see in March.

MIDWEST REGION: WISCONSIN

21-3 overall, 10-1 Big Ten

Week 14 rankings – AP: 7 RPI: 16

Again, not an easy region to pick a top seed, but Wisconsin quietly fits the bill. The Badgers have established themselves as the team to beat in the Big Ten Conference, and they have slowly but surely climbed the rankings this season to where they have a legitimate chance to crack the top five next week in the AP if they can handle Northwestern on Sunday at the Kohl Center. Greg Gard’s team has only lost three times on the year, all three times to AP Top-25 teams, and twice on the road. The 59.8 PPG they allow is good enough for 4^th in all of Division I basketball, and they themselves boast one of the best individual talents in the game. Ethan Happ, another Wooden Award Top-20 finalist, averages 14.7 PPG and 9.1 RPG, and seniors Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes are playing some of the best basketball of their stellar careers. This Badgers team hasn’t made a ton of noise nationally, but something tells me everyone will know about this team next month.

REST OF THE FIELD

2-seeds: Gonzaga, North Carolina, Oregon

3-seeds: UCLA, West Virginia, Kentucky

4-seeds: Florida State, Louisville, Baylor

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